Newly discovered photos of WWI put on display

The Battle of Somme only lasted four months, but this famous First World War battle was one of the bloodiest in human history – and because of one soldier, we're finally getting a real look at what it was like on the front lines.

George Hackney was an amateur photographer and took candid photos of life - and sometimes death - during the war.

His secret photography could have gone to military court (court martial) if he was ever caught, but instead he pushed on both in battle and film.

More than a million soldiers were either injured or killed in the Battle of Somme, but George survived and he was able to capture rare moments of everyday life of fellow soldiers, who often documented their time at war in diaries.

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Newly discovered photos of WWI put on display

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During his remarkable journey, he also snapped photos of men sailing on the English Channel to Boulogne. Some men slept while others looked out for the threat of German U-boats.

And later, he documented scouts and snipers in the French trenches during the winter. But unfortunately, many of the lives captured through his lense did not survive the war.

Hackney used a folding camera to take the photos before giving them to loved ones once he return from the war. He died in 1977. His photographs have been published for the first time after being found with numerous personal diaries.

The public will be able to see the album in the new Modern History gallery at the Ulster Museum in Belfast beginning November 26th. Visitors to the Ulster Museum will be able to view a selection of images from the album via an interactive audio visual presentation.